Chapter 4 Colson #2
“Well, you’re not sleeping in your house when there’s no heat. You’ll sleep at mine. I have a guest room, or a couch, whichever you prefer, but at least they’ll both ensure you don’t have frostbite by morning.”
She swung her eyes up, her lips parting the smallest bit like she couldn’t believe I had offered what I did. I waited for her to accept, because I knew she would. This was Nora, after all, she liked to be taken care of.
I had watched for a year how her father did everything for her, hell he’d probably bought her house for her too. The one she didn’t know how to fucking take care of.
Her staring led to a disgruntled scoff.
“Uh…no. Hell no.” She shook her head like she couldn’t believe I had offered her refuge for the night. “And also, can you leave so I can enjoy the rest of my evening? Roger and I were discussing trivia questions before you rudely barged in.”
Roger took that moment to add, “Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the entire world? Nora here says it can grow thirty-five inches in a single day!”
My gaze swung back to the woman in front of me, who was now smirking.
Shit, she wasn’t making this easy.
“Okay, how about I start over?” I lifted my hands in an act of surrender.
She sipped the last of her drink, then lounged into the booth, waiting for me to finish.
Leaning closer, I set my hands in front of me, leveling her with a stare. “I’m worried about your safety…so would you please just accept my help and sleep in my guest room?”
Crossing her arms, she mirrored my posture by leaning over the table. “No. I have a home and enough wood to stay warm.”
This girl was aggravating my nerves, more so than she had over the past year.
We stared for several breaths, challenging one another…but when she raised her dark brow, I backed off.
“Okay…would you at least keep me company while I drive back?”
Lifting her chin in defiance, I mentally prepared to throw her over my shoulder and make the decision for her because she wasn’t fucking walking home in these temperatures. But she surprised me when her pink lips fell and her shoulders slumped.
“Fine.”
Letting out a silent, relieved breath, I slid out of the booth and held out my hand for the cup she had been drinking from. Once she handed it over, I dropped the sugar packet inside and walked it over to Roger, who took it from me along with a five-dollar bill to cover her coffee and tip.
She had emerged from the booth and stood with her arms linked across her chest, waiting for me.
Why the hell did I like that she was waiting for me?
I blinked, filing that image away, like I had for every Nora-related thing that had acted as a splinter in my conscious… Digging, weaving, accessing places she had no right to.
She held the glass door open, then followed me to my truck.
I walked past her and opened the door, not offering to help her inside. Then rounded to my side.
Once I settled in the seat, I glanced over at her to steal another image for later.
She looked so natural sitting in my truck, settling into the seat, placing her purse on the floor and pulling the strap over her chest. With a flip of her curls, and a quick glimpse over at me, I could feel that splinter work further, on the verge of ruining something vital.
It took less than five minutes to pull into my driveway, and even less time to notice that she still smelled like me. An image of her sitting in my tub, surrounded by dissipating foam from my body wash, surfaced and made me smile.
Rounding the hood, I opened her door and held it as she hopped down.
“Thank you for the ride.” She muttered quietly, tucking a few curls back while pulling her purse across her chest.
She stepped away, heading to her side of the fence, not giving me a second look.
I followed.
At her porch, she turned. “I’m good from here if you want to head home.”
“I am…but first I’m making your fire.”
With her hand on the doorknob, she opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it with a low, muttered curse.
Good, we were finally getting along.
Once she opened her door, I sidestepped her and headed to the hearth. She had a decent amount of wood stacked in a small rectangular box, painted black with white lettering that spelled out “Firewood.”
“What is this?”
Pulling a few blankets off the couch, she wrapped it around her shoulders and sunk to the floor next to me.
“It’s a box for holding firewood.”
Reaching for a few logs, I set up the fire and grabbed some tinder while shaking my head.
“Right.”
The fire crackled as we perched in front of the growing flames.
“It’s dumb, I know…Rae got it for me as a housewarming gift.” Nora said, sounding a little embarrassed.
Peering over my shoulder, her blushing cheeks confirmed that I had insulted her.
“It’s nice…I mean, you design for a living, right? Makes sense.”
She didn’t reply, just stared at the amber glow.
It was difficult not to indulge in how domesticated this felt…blinking, I finally forced myself to move.
“You need more wood, so I’ll go get—”
“No need, I’ll get it.” Nora jumped up, rubbing her hands together.
Fuck all with this girl, I had no idea what to expect from her.
“Nora, sit by the fire. I’ll get it.”
She shook her head, already pulling on her coat. “It’s my house, my fire…I’ll do it. You can head home now.”
Putting my hand on her arm, I stopped her. “I know I can head home, but I want to get your wood, so go fucking sit and let me get it.”
She stared at my hand, and for a few seconds we stood there, closer than we’d ever been. This somehow felt bigger…more intense than any other moment we’d shared.
That splinter in my chest, with her name on it, wiggled further in. Daring me to drop my hand to the dip of her waist.
She pulled away first. “Fine, knock yourself out.”
I walked out through the back where the glow from her porch light illuminated the dark as I grabbed more wood from her dwindling pile.
My eyes scanned the fallen tree taking up the expanse of her yard, still covered in snow…
she could pay someone to come and take care of it.
My boss wouldn’t care one way or another…
her power would be back on by tomorrow. But…
that fucking splinter had moved so goddamn deep that I already knew I’d chop the fucker up with that chain saw I had purchased, and I’d do it tonight so she could wake up to one less problem.
This wasn’t a good idea. I should go…leave the wood on her steps and walk home.
But, fuck.
Stalking back inside, and stomping the snow from my boots, I returned to the little designer box she had set up and dropped the armful of wood into it.
Nora had changed into a pair of sweats, a hoodie, and thick wool socks.
And with her ass pointed at me, it looked as though she was in the process of pulling cushions off the couch.
“Here.” I moved to help, moving cushions until she had a small bed in front of the fireplace. Her aqua eyes flicked to mine in surprise, then darted away.
Staying quiet, she disappeared down the hall, using her cell phone as a flashlight so she could see. She returned with a pile of blankets bulging from her arms. I watched as she tossed them on the bed of cushions and rearranged them.
I stared longer than I probably should have, but I liked looking at her…and it was so rare that I ever had an excuse to.
“Do you have more blankets you want me to get?”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, pausing her movements and watching mine instead.
“What?” I paused with my hand on the iron poker.
Fluffing out the first blanket, she laid it out over the cushions and then reached for the second one, flicking her gaze toward me and then returning it to her makeshift bed.
“You haven’t cared one way or another about me for over a year. You’ve done everything to keep your distance…and then all the sudden you’re telling me to stay in your warm house and then chasing me down at the diner?”
Trying to seem unfazed by her behavior, I shook my head.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I—”
“The fuck you don’t. Did you forget the dinner party, or the petty insults you’ve hurled at me every chance you’ve had?”
The way her tone slipped into hurt made my head turn. My actions wounded her…and while I had my reasons for each and every barb, it still didn’t feel good to hear that it hurt her.
Swallowing around that feeling surging in my chest, I said, “Well, maybe I realized how much of a prick I’ve been and wanted to make up for it.”
Her face flushed pink, and I assumed maybe she hadn’t considered that.
“So that’s it, you’re just trying to do better?”
It wasn’t a complete lie.
Stalling and gently securing the poker, I smiled and said, “Well, maybe be a friend too.”
She seemed to consider that, while getting inside her little bed and pulling the blankets over her.
“Okay, well, I don’t buy it, but I’ll see you tomorrow.” She put on a pair of white headphones and clicked a few buttons on her phone until her eyes closed and she nestled into her blankets.
Dismissed by pulling on a pair of headphones, and all I could think of was what it would feel like to crawl in behind her on that little couch raft.
Some carnal and raw part of me wanted to do just that, grip her chin, make her understand how badly I wanted her. She needed to stay warm, and what better way than body to body heat? Fuck.
Pushing all that down, I added a few more logs and made sure her doors were locked. But right before I let myself out, I heard her mutter.
“Thank you, Colson.”
I paused, hand on the door, watching her track my every move. I didn’t know why it felt like she was peeling back a layer of mine, invisible it seemed to everyone but her, but I had to get out of there.
Dipping my head, I replied quietly, “You’re welcome.”
Then I left.